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TRP: Larkin and Pride (Blinding)
Night of Day 407, Larkin's dream This dream was a nightmare, which was highly unusual since Larkin never had nightmares. The other unusual thing was she could tell it was a dream yet as she ran and the door kept only getting further and further away, she couldn’t do shit about the sense- the knowledge- of sheer terror of what would happen if she didn’t get there in time so she tried running even faster, despite the coal dust burning in her lungs. The moment she did the door stopped moving, but then the ground gave out suddenly, and Larkin fell down, catching herself on her hands and getting them trapped in the oily, tarry mass that’d become the floor. She snarled at it, tugged and tore but it held her firm in its grip, slowly creeping up her legs and forearms, hardening and tightening where it covered her already until it had her engulfed, trapped, motionless, and the door on the end of the dream opened to show Goro standing there, eyes dripping black, the knife in his hand lifting to his throat- IZZY There was the unmistakable, but ill-fitting, sound of someone clicking their tongue, as if in disapproval. A soft, deep voice said, "That's enough of that," and then -- the odd sensation that Larkin was being hefted up by the scruff of her neck, and -- The dream changed entirely. She was in some sort of fancy marble music room, sitting on a chaise lounge, with a fleece blanket wrapped around her shoulders as if she'd been plucked out of a cold lake and needed to warm up. A cool breeze drifted in through the open balcony doors, fluttering through sheer black curtains, and the evening -- maybe dawn -- sky was visible beyond. The blue demon sat opposite her, decked in gold, with curling horns and slitted golden eyes. One of his arms was propped casually along the back of his lounge, and his legs were crossed, one knee over the other. His face was impassive. "Do I need to introduce myself?" he asked, in the same quiet baritone. JEN Larkin sat startled for a moment, unmoving as if in front of a big predatory animal. Then the pieces clicked into place and she shrugged the paralysis off with the blanket. "Pride," she said. "That's you, isn't it?" She squinted at him. "I wanna say that wasn't you giving me fucking nightmares but who knows." IZZY "It certainly wasn't," he said, his tone clipped. His talons -- long and sharp and gold -- tapped the back of the lounge. "The product of your own mind, presumably. My work isn't so gauche." JEN "Uh-huh. Sure." Sarcasm got into her tone before she could think to keep it out. IZZY A brief smile tugged at one corner of his lips before passing. He gestured vaguely with one hand. "I have a message for your little ... coterie, but I've been unable to reach Mishka, I understand that Goro is no option, and Sakincha hasn't been asleep for me to deliver it to him. I assumed that you were the next best option. Is that acceptable to you?" JEN "Sure. Must be important if you'd stoop so low." IZZY He flickered another smile. "I've presumed we had nothing to speak of. Do you have a complaint to file?" JEN She returned the smile, although it wasn't very warm. "Nah. I like my dreams without demons." IZZY "Then I won't keep you," he said, somewhat dryly. "I've received a communique from my brother. Lust." JEN Larkin paused at that. "When?" IZZY He raised an eyebrow. "Some time earlier this evening. After he attacked Goro." His lip curled in disgust. JEN "Uh... alright." She paused again, then decided to wait and hear. "What message?" IZZY "He claims," Pride said, sounding bored, "that his wretched daughter, Gluttony, overpowered him in some way, and that she's infected him with her vile essence." He splayed out his talons to study them. "You've dealt with Gluttony before, haven't you?" JEN "Sure did." IZZY "Mm. Perhaps you should have done a better job of it," he said idly. JEN "Yeah, well." She shrugged and leaned back, one arm over the backrest of the lounge. "Not much you can do after you chop up a bitch and they disintegrate into fucking dust." IZZY "I suppose not," he said, amused and perhaps a touch pleased. "I've no love for my brother. He came to me, begging like a dog, and I assure you I would happily let him rot in his own foul body, consumed by the virus he made, and my only regret would be that he didn't suffer longer. Unfortunately," he went on, any trace of the smile leaving his face, "he tells me that his disease has infected Goro, as well, which I cannot stand for." JEN Larkin's face went slack. There'd been the maggots, the black slime. The dripping eyes and that fuckin lilt. Inside Goro? Again? That wasn't... wasn't fucking happening. "We killed Anwyll," she said, almost mechanically. "He came back." IZZY Pride stared at her a bit blankly. "Killed him?" JEN "Yup. Well- " She made an annoyed sound and smiled without humor, "given that he fucking... pieced himself back together from the pieces and sounded like a fucking Diva host after, probably not well enough." IZZY He continued to stare, as if he didn't quite know what to make of that. JEN Larkin stared back for a moment, then supplied, "after he fucked with Goro in that dream Hansel and I decided he had to go, so... we killed him. Uhm. And then he came back to life and had these... fucking black eyes, like Gluttony does, and her voice. We didn't stay to chat." IZZY "I see," Pride said, finally, a bit thinly. "I see. Well, you shouldn't have done that. Before his demise, he told me that the infection will spread through Goro. It will make him ... as I presume Lust is, now, consumed by Gluttony. A fresh carrier for the disease. He used that detail to bargain for his own life, claiming that somewhere in the Underdark there is a pool of water that can cure any disease, including his spawn's." He paused. "He did not give me precise directions." JEN She grimaced, then pinched the bridge of her nose, then rubbed her face. "Mask." IZZY He tapped his claws against the back of the lounge. "I suppose there are only so many places it could be. He said it was somewhere that he used to live. Perhaps his warlock knows more details." JEN "God," Larkin grumbled, "we haven't told Raef yet. He's gonna have a fucking stroke." IZZY "Luckily, such things do not fall under my purview," he said. "I will send Sakincha to aid you however he can -- the Underdark is treacherous. You may need him." JEN "So that's all? Somewhere in the Underdark?" IZZY He spread his claws. "Where Lust once lived. At least two weeks' journey from the surface, allegedly. He was not particularly forthcoming with the entirety of his bargaining chips." JEN "Alright. Fine. Guess we ain't got much of a choice anyway." Larkin made an unhappy face. IZZY "Indeed. The disease taking Goro is unacceptable." JEN "Oh, good, we're on the same page about that at least." She paused, then tilted her head. "You're not mad we killed your brother, are you?" IZZY "I would have only killed him myself," Pride said flatly. JEN "Well." She grinned apologetically. "Sorry for that then." IZZY He looked a bit blank for a moment more, then offered another vague smile. "No harm done, apart from the obvious." JEN "Hm. Should we get you a trophy next time? The head, maybe? A fang?" IZZY "Next time?" he questioned. JEN "When we kill the bitch again." IZZY "Ah. Best not to risk it," he said, a little regretfully. "Burn the disease out. Leave nothing behind." JEN Larkin tilted her head thoughtfully. "Is that a turn of phrase or actual advice? Use fire?" IZZY He smiled faintly. "It surely couldn't hurt. If this Gluttony has mutated into some form of disease, a fever may be the remedy." JEN "How'd you kill the others?" IZZY "Varying ways," he mused. "The real Glutton -- my sibling, rather than Lust's blighted child -- I fed poison. I wouldn't presume that this would be effective against Diva." He said the name with some distaste. JEN "Nah." Larkin mirrored the tone with a scowl. "Bitch's got a different hunger." IZZY "All illnesses run their course," he said, pleasantly enough. "Not to worry." JEN She gave him a hard look. "Easy to say when you're not the one sick. Some diseases kill you." IZZY "Do you not have clerics able to raise the dead?" JEN "Only if there's a cleric nearby," Larkin said flatly, "and they're powerful enough. And you have the money to pay them or they have such a good heart. There's a lot of fucking reasons people stay dead." IZZY He gave a thoughtful hm and tapped his claws on the lounge. "Goro's mother is a cleric. Is she not powerful enough?" JEN "Listen, I know shit all about magic," Larkin said, "but I know it's not like flipping a fucking switch. Things go wrong. I'd rather do everything to keep my cousin alive than to worry this time will be the last, you get me?" IZZY "Of course." He bowed his head a little, closing his eyes briefly. "I understand. Naturally, I will do everything in my power -- limited as it is from this side of the caul -- to prevent his death. Sakincha is at your disposal, as I said." JEN "Hmm." Larkin tapped her finger on the cushions, wondering whether she should leave now and how that would even work. "So what're you gonna do when you're on our side of it?" She asked instead. "Just hang out? Open a book store? World dominion?" IZZY "I'll be with my partner," he said, seeming content. JEN She snorted. "That's sweet." IZZY He gave her an amused look. JEN "What I meant was, what're you planning to do once you're with Sam? Holding hands gets boring after a couple days." IZZY He tilted his head. "I've followed Sakincha for three mortal lifetimes. I've never been bored of him." JEN Larkin smiled thinly. "Alright. I guess you're not obliged to tell me." IZZY "I assure you that your cousin has interrogated me thoroughly," he said, vaguely amused again. JEN "Hmm, yeah. Wouldn't be him if he hadn't. Honestly, though?" She tilted her head, waiting for him to cut her off. IZZY He waited politely. JEN "I doubt you were any more forthcoming with him, and I fucking doubt he trusts you to not fuck us over." IZZY "That's all right," he said calmly. "I don't require your trust. You'll learn, in time, that I mean you no harm." He tilted his head. "Perhaps my help in such matters as this will away you." JEN "Perhaps." IZZY He smiled. "Ah, well, I can only hope so." JEN Larkin smiled back, not as sharply this time. Showing good will and shit. "Anyway," she said and glanced around. "Thanks for... " She waved a hand in the air, "helping earlier. I've seen enough of that bitch in my waking life already." IZZY "It's no trouble. I can ensure a dreamless sleep, if you like." JEN "Nah, thanks. I'd rather just wake up." IZZY "Certainly." He held his claws up, ready to snap, and looked at her closely. "Until we speak again." He snapped his fingers, but Larkin did not wake up. She felt the lurching sensation of twitching awake, just on the cusp of sleep, but the faux waking was into a black void. There was no absence of light; she could still see; she could just see that there was nothing to see, as far around her as was possible to see. There was no distinct ground, no sky, no horizon -- only illuminated black. The only thing in the void with her was a pale blue tiefling with black and gold eyes, and flowers woven into his hair. He knelt in front of her -- she realized she was kneeling as well -- and touched her face gently, staring at her with wide, searching eyes. "Nissa?" he said desperately. His voice echoed oddly. "Nissa? Can you hear me?" JEN "Huh?" Larkin made, no words coming to her. IZZY He edged closer to her on his knees, cupping her face and reaching down to take her hand. She realized then that her knuckles were heavy with the Fists of Asmodeus. The impossible light grew brighter, bleaching the black. "My Sharpness," he whispered, eyes traveling over her face. "I miss you. I miss you." He squeezed her hand and leaned in as if he would kiss her, but the light became blinding, and Larkin woke up. END Category:Text Roleplay